The Community of Coppermine started during the 1930's. The chapter house was built in 1959 when Council Delegate Edward Manson was in office. The community was named after an open-pit mine. The copper mine closed in 1968. The copper deposit was apparently originally discovered in the 1880s, and extracted by the Coconino Copper and Chemical Company, which used some immense and unique steam-powered half-tracks to pull the ore wagons to Flagstaff for processing.